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Feature The conservation status of temperate in southern

C CARBUTT 1, M TAU 2, A STEPHENS 2 AND B ESCOTT 1 1 Scientific Services, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, Cascades 2 National Biodiversity Programme, South African National Biodiversity Institute, E mail: [email protected]

Introduction The effect of this gradient, enhanced by the east- he Grassland (25° S - 33° S; 24° E - 31° west moisture gradient across the subcontinent, is TE) of (here defined in the narrow- believed to have determined the limits of grassland est sense as , and Swaziland) on our subcontinent (Mucina and Rutherford 2006). covers an area of c. 360,589 km2, straddling the high central plateau of South Africa (‘’), the moun- The Grassland Biome is represented by four biore- tainous areas of Lesotho, and the high-lying ground gions ( Grassland; Sub- of the eastern seaboard (uplands or sub-escarpment Grassland; Dry Highveld Grassland; Mesic Highveld of KwaZulu-Natal, , and ). Grassland; Figure 2) and 72 vegetation types (units), The Grassland Biome (Figure 1), one of nine the latter defined by Mucina and Rutherford (2006) in southern Africa, accounts for c. 28% of the terres- according to similar vegetation structure, macro-cli- trial surface area of southern Africa, and is therefore mate (mainly the amount of summer rainfall, minimum the second largest biome after the Biome winter temperatures and frost), and a similar dis- (Mucina and Rutherford 2006). Topographically, the turbance regime (frequent fire and grazing). The landscape of the Grassland Biome ranges from flat or Grassland Biome accounts for three centres of plant undulating with hills and valleys, to rugged (Drakensberg Alpine Centre; escarpment. Elevation ranges from 300 m to 3482 Centre; Midlands Putative Centre) whilst a further m a.s.l. (Thabana Ntlenyana - the highest mountain three centres of plant endemism are shared with the in southern Africa). Winters are generally cold and Savanna Biome (Barberton, Sekhukhune and Sout- dry, with frequent frosts and snow falls in the higher pansberg Centres; Mucina and Rutherford 2006). reaches. Rainfall varies spatially from 400 mm to The Grassland Biome also accounts for three World 2,500 mm per annum, corresponding to the MAR in Heritage Sites (uKhahlamba Drakensberg; Cradle of other parts of the world where similar vegetation is Humankind and Vredefort Dome). found (O’Connor and Bredenkamp 1997). Rainfall is strongly seasonal (summer) and the growing season The latest delineation of the Grassland Biome lasts approximately half the year (Mucina and Ru- (Mucina and Rutherford 2006) resulted in the rec- therford 2006). The development of the Grassland ognition of a new biome on the eastern seaboard, Biome is thought to be linked to global cooling namely the Coastal Belt Biome, which during the late tertiary, accompanied by continental now includes the humid sub-tropical grasslands and uplift that began in the Early Miocene and culminat- the edaphic grasslands of Maputland and Pondland ed in significant uplift of up to 900 m in some parts previously housed in the former Grassland Biome of the subcontinent during the Pliocene. This uplift (see Rutherford and Westfall 1986, Low and Rebelo moved a core area of the subcontinent into a cool, 1996). Furthermore, the Ngongoni grasslands are high-altitude climate, more suitable for grasslands now part of the Savanna Biome, the thinking being than . Uplift towards the west was less pro- that a subtropical vegetation type is best contained nounced, resulting in the sloping east-west gradient. within a subtropical biome. The result therefore is

February 2011 | Vol 11 No.1 www.grassland.org.za | The GRASSLAND SOCIETY of SOUTHERN AFRICA | GRASSROOTS 17 Feature conservation status of temperate grasslands that the grasslands of the currently defined Grass- Methods land Biome are all strictly temperate; the Grassland The conservation assessment of temperate grass- Biome and the temperate grasslands of southern lands in southern Africa was based on a GIS-analysis Africa are synonymous and may therefore be referred using ArcView GIS 3.2. Areas were calculated using to interchangeably. data in the WGS84 datum Lo29 projection. Levels of transformation were based on the National Land The temperate grasslands of southern Africa Cover (NLC) 2000 coverage (satellite imagery). The are structurally fairly conservative and uniform transformed areas do not necessarily lie exclusively (O’Connor and Bredenkamp 1997); they comprise outside of protected areas (PAs). Protection levels single-layered herbaceous communities of tufted were derived from the formal PA system (i.e. all leg- graminoids (predominantly perennial grasses of the islated, formal state and statutory PAs), according to Family Poaceae), as well as a forb component of the National Environmental Management: Protected mostly long-lived perennials that re-appear on an Areas Act 57 of 2003. annual basis from significant below-ground biomass (corms, rhizomes, tubers or bulbs) until the end of Results their life-span but are heavily reliant on the produc- A meager 2.04% of the ’s temperate grasslands tion and establishment of viable seed for recruitment. are conserved within PAs (Table 1). This level of pro- Biomass is mostly attributed to the grass component tection is less than half of the global total (estimated (Family Poaceae), whilst species richness is attribut- between c. 4.6% and 5.5%) for the World Temperate ed mostly to the forb component. Woody plants are Grassland Biome (see Chape et al. 2003, Peart 2008). rare (usually low to medium-sized shrubs) or absent This also falls short of the IUCN target of 10% formal (O’Connor and Bredenkamp 1997), and are confined protection by 2014, and at a local (national) scale, to specific habitats serving as fire refugia (rocky hill- far short of the 12% target (or an additional ± 42,500 tops, drainage lines etc.). Grassy or km 2) by 2028 set as part of South Africa’s National ‘’ (heathland-like vegetation) occurs at the Protected Area Expansion Strategy (NPAES) (SANBI higher elevations and in higher rainfall areas, often and DEAT 2008). The poor levels of protection often on steep, highly leached slopes protected from fire mean that temperate grasslands account for most

(Mucina and Rutherford 2006). C 4 grasses dominate of the high priority biodiversity areas for PA expan- most of the Biome, except at the higher elevations sion, which in KwaZulu-Natal is estimated to be c. of the Drakensberg Alpine Centre (i.e. the Maloti- 46% (Carbutt and Escott 2010). An assessment of Drakensberg Mtns), where C3 grasses predominate conservation priorities in the Grassland Biome iden- (Low and Rebelo 1996). Canopy cover of the grass- tified some 36.7% of the biome being important for lands is moisture-dependent and decreases with biodiversity conservation (Reyers et al. 2005). Some low MAR. Cover is also influenced by intensity and 33% of southern Africa’s temperate grasslands are type of grazing, as well as by fire (seasonality, in- already irreversibly transformed (Table 1). tensity) and by minimum temperature (implications for frosts). The temperate grasslands of southern All broad temperate grassland units (bioregions) Africa are subdivided into moist (dependent on fire are below target, although the Drakensberg Grass- for maintaining structure) and dry types (not depen- land Bioregion is the most protected (Table 2) princi- dent on fire for maintaining structure) (Mucina and pally as a result of the Maloti Drakensberg Transfron- Rutherford 2006). tier Conservation Area (comprising the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park World Heritage Site in South Africa The aim of this study was to assess the conser- and Sehlabathebe National Park in Lesotho). Priority vation status of temperate grasslands in southern should be given to the sub-escarpment grasslands, Africa, discuss possible reasons for the poor level listed in the NPAES as being the only bioregion of of protection and high degree of transformation, and the Grassland Biome requiring ‘critically urgent’ at- mention the major current interventions aimed at im- tention (SANBI and DEAT 2008), followed by the Dry- proving levels of protection. and Mesic Highveld Grassland Bioregions (requiring

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Table 1. The conservation status of temperate grasslands in southern Africa.

‘very urgent’ attention). Ironically, the bioregions of its high priority biodiversity located within produc- with the most PAs (e.g. Mesic Highveld Grasslands; tion (‘working’) landscapes. This is a worldwide trend Sub-escarpment Grasslands) conserve some of the because grasslands are highly amenable for settle- smallest areas per bioregion, highlighting the futility ment and use, having provided for man’s needs for of small reserves in fulfilling PA targets (although are centuries. As a result, temperate grasslands are now often essential in fulfilling biodiversity targets). considered the most altered terrestrial biome on the planet (Henwood 2006). The low level of protection (c. 2%) is also slight- ly overestimated due to the prevalence of forest The primary drivers of transformation by agri- patches within these grassland areas, reducing the culture in the Grassland Biome include the dairy, overall area for grassland conservation. Further- wool, beef, , sorghum, , and to a lesser more, some 70% of the minor vegetation types extent, sunflower industries. A further 65% of the within the bioregions have no or very little (< 2 %) Grassland Biome is grazed for livestock and game legal protection! As a result, the biome is one of the (Grasslands Programme, undated). Large stretches most threatened in southern Africa, because out of of grassland have also been flooded for the con- the 72 constituent vegetation types, one is listed as struction of large dams, as southern Africa is gener- critically endangered, 14 are endangered and 24 are ally a water scarce country with a MAR around 350 classed as vulnerable (see Reyers et al. 2005). The mm. In terms of mining, South Africa is one of the c. 2% formal protection is also an overestimate or world’s top coal producing countries; an extensive best case scenario given that a further ten years of coal belt is located within the Grassland Biome. Ex- transformation has taken place since 2000 (the date acerbating the problem is that large coal-fired power of the last national land cover exercise). stations (occupying a large footprint) are located in close proximity to the coal-producing areas, in order Discussion to minimize transport costs. mining is a further Transformation transformer of temperate grasslands. The Grassland Biome supports the greatest human population densities and the highest levels of ag- Major biodiversity conservation initiatives ricultural utilization on the subcontinent, thereby The conservation of temperate grasslands is being placing it under severe threat and pressure (Meter et tackled at a number of levels and scales. At a global al. 2002, O’Connor and Kuyler 2005, Kirkman 2006). level, the Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initia- The result is that the Grassland Biome is highly trans- tive (TGCI) was birthed in 2006 under the Grasslands formed (c. 33%; Table 1) and fragmented, with much Protected Area Task Force of the IUCN World Com-

February 2011 | Vol 11 No.1 www.grassland.org.za | The GRASSLAND SOCIETY of SOUTHERN AFRICA | GRASSROOTS 19 Feature conservation status of temperate grasslands

Table 2. Land-use types responsible for the most transformation in the Grassland Biome (adapted from Reyers et al. 2005). The slight disparity between total transformation values in Tables 1 and 2 is attributed to the inclusion of additional land-uses/habitats within grassland habitat such as water bodies, barren rock and forests, for the calculations in Table 1.

mission on Protected Areas (WCPA) to enhance in- spheres of government, the private sector, civil society ternational communication and cooperation for the and the academic sector. In its first five years, the protection and conservation of the world’s temper- Programme is focusing on a strategy to mainstream ate grasslands (Peart 2008, Henwood 2010). At a conservation objectives into major production sectors national level, the NPAES (2008 to 2012) has iden- operating in the biome (through the Grassland Part- tified the Grassland Biome as the biome requiring ner’s Forum). This strategy includes interventions to the largest addition of land to reach its conservation integrate biodiversity-compatible land uses into agri- target. However, given the difference between the culture; to ensure a direct contribution by the forestry PA expansion target and the biodiversity target, it is sector to biodiversity conservation; to mainstream apparent that formal protection alone, nor agencies biodiversity into ’s economy and to secure working in isolation, will succeed in conserving the biodiversity management in the coal mining sector. biodiversity of the Grassland Biome. Conservation The Grasslands Programme recognizes that promot- strategies need to incorporate a variety of approach- ing off-reserve conservation on privately or commu- es to biodiversity management, including biodiver- nally owned land has to form a major component of a sity stewardship and biodiversity mainstreaming. grasslands conservation strategy. Furthermore, given the high turnover of biodiversity across the biome, these initiatives need to be imple- Another major intervention that can be employed mented across the full extent of the biome. in the conservation of temperate grasslands is the expansion of existing grassland PAs and the procla- The National Grasslands Biodiversity Programme mation of newly acquired PAs, including Transfron- (NGBP), otherwise known as the Grasslands Pro- tier Parks. The Maloti Drakensberg Transfrontier Pro- gramme, is a 20-year programme which aims to gramme (MDTP) aims (in part) to conserve temperate “secure the biodiversity and associated ecosystem grasslands and associated biodiversity in the Maloti services of the Grassland Biome for the benefit of Drakensberg Region. The Maloti Mtns of Lesotho in current and future generations”. Hosted by the South particular are poorly protected, as this region is char- African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), the acterized by communal land tenure. Studies have programme is a strategic partnership between three shown that species richness in such communally

20 GRASSROOTS | The GRASSLAND SOCIETY of SOUTHERN AFRICA | www.grassland.org.za February 2011 | Vol 11 No.1 conservation status of temperate grasslands Feature grazed areas is significantly lower when compared owners. It is a coordinated approach to sustainably to conservation areas nearby (Everson and Morris utilizing these large, contiguous, relatively pristine 2006). Currently, only 0.21% of Lesotho’s total area grasslands through compatible land-uses (e.g. con- of c. 30,355 km2 is under formal protection, com- servancies, stewardship, land acquisition, biosphere prising Sehlabathebe National Park (64.75 km 2) reserves, water catchment protection), by making use and Masitise Nature Reserve (0.2 km 2) (Letšela et al. of a long-term conservation management strategy. 2003, Everson and Morris 2006). The further proc- lamation of Tsehlanyane National Park (53.33 km 2) Conclusion and Bokong Nature Reserve (19.72 km 2) will double The constraints against improving the level of pro- the area in Lesotho under protection, and linking the tection and conservation in the Grassland Biome two areas through a biosphere reserve as proposed relate largely to burgeoning population levels and by the Development Authority high utilization by the agricultural (both for crop- (LHDA) will extend the area under conservation even ping and as commercial rangelands), mining, and further (Letšela et al. 2003). This initiative provides an forestry sectors. Furthermore, PAs within the Grass- opportunity to use Community Conservation Areas land Biome are relatively few, generally small and (CCAs) which recognizes the opportunity to use the highly fragmented (with the exception of the UDP potential compatibility of communal resource use WHS). Opportunities for expansion into biologically and management conservation. A further initiative meaningful, contiguous, mega-reserves (to sustain being driven by SANParks is the establishment of a landscape-scale ecological processes) appear few, new grassland PA in the -Rhodes district particularly given the impact of the transformers of the Eastern Cape. mentioned above. High gamma-diversity across our grasslands means that PAs also need to be located Biodiversity Stewardship is another essential across the full extent of the biome, and not clustered weapon in the arsenal because the PA network into certain areas, to ensure that PAs are representa- in southern Africa, whilst fairly extensive (at least tive of all grassland biodiversity. A further constraint outside of the Grassland Biome), is insufficient to is that detailed information relating to informal con- safeguard our critically important grassland biodiver- servation areas is lacking. No national registry or sity. It is recognized that in order to effectively con- spatial database exists of these areas. These areas serve South Africa’s biodiversity, conservation efforts may be contributing meaningfully toward conserva- must focus outside of formally protected reserves, tion goals and targets, but to what extent is currently considering that some of the country’s most scarce unknown. No national standard for the certification and threatened habitats are privately owned. To this and management of these areas has been set, so end, the National Stewardship Programme (Biodi- one can’t assume that all are well managed and versity Stewardship South Africa), also being rolled therefore adequately safeguarding biodiversity. out in our provinces, is underway to secure (amongst other ecosystems), conservation-worthy grasslands Strategies to meet the conservation targets of the (including temperate grasslands) on privately owned Grassland Biome need to recognize the complexi- land. The aim is to get local landowners with viable ties of implementing conservation actions across tracts of conservation-worthy land to proclaim such this landscape. The biome covers a vast area which areas as Nature Reserves (or according to less formal straddles national boundaries, as well as several pro- measures such as Protected Environments or Biodi- vincial and numerous local government boundaries. versity Agreements), depending on the landowner(s). Much of the important biodiversity of the biome is on A large biodiversity stewardship-based project that is land that is privately or communally owned or under proving highly effective is the Enkangala Grassland production. Transfrontier Conservation initiatives are Project, which aims to conserve 1.6 million hectares hindered by politics and lack of funding. Meeting the of moist, high-altitude (temperate) grassland span- biodiversity targets for the Grassland Biome requires ning three provinces in South Africa using multiple a concerted conservation strategy that balances NGO-based partners such as the Nedbank Green conservation and development agendas. Trust and WWF-SA in collaboration with private land

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References Carbutt C and Escott B 2010. KZN protected area Meter EB, Edwards TJ, Rennie MA and Granger JE expansion strategy and action plan (2009 2002. A checklist of the plants of Mahwaqa to 2028). Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife unpublished Mountain, KwaZulu-Natal. Bothalia 32(1): 101- report, Pietermaritzburg. 115.

Chape S, Blyth L, Fish L, Fax P and Spalding M Mucina L and Rutherford MC (eds) 2006. The 2003. United Nations List of Protected Areas Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and (for 2003). IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Swaziland. Strelitzia 19. SANBI, Pretoria. UNEO-WCMC, Cambridge, UK. pp.1-44. O’Connor TG and Bredenkamp GJ 1997. Grassland. In Everson TM and Morris CD 2006. Conservation of Vegetation of Southern Africa. Cowling R M , Biodiversity in the Maloti-Drakensberg Range. Richardson DM and Pierce SM (eds). Cambridge In Land Use Change and Mountain Biodiversity. University Press, Cambridge. pp. 215-257. Spehn EM, Liberman M and Körner C ( e d s ) . Taylor and Francis, Florida, USA. pp. 285-291. O’Connor TG and Kuyler P 2005. National Grasslands Initiative: Identification of Compatible Land Grasslands Programme undated. Grasslands - living Uses for Maintaining Biodiversity Integrity. Report in a working landscape. P/Bag X101 Pretoria for the South African National B i o d i v e r s i t y 0001. Institute’s National Grasslands Biodiversity Programme. Henwood WD 2006. Linking the World’s Grasslands: Enhancing International Cooperation Peart B 2008. Life in a working landscape: towards a for Protection and Conservation of the conservation strategy for the world’s World’s Temperate Grasslands. IUCN and the temperate grasslands. Temperate Grasslands World Commission on Protected Areas. Conservation Initiative, Vancouver, Canada. pp. 1-22. Henwood WD 2010. Toward a strategy for the conservation and protection of the world’s Reyers B, Nel J, Egoh B, Jonas Z and Rouget temperate grasslands. Great Plains Research M 2005. National Grasslands Biodiversity 20: 121-134. Programme: Grassland Biodiversity Profile and Spatial Biodiversity Priority Assessment. Kirkman K 2006. Strategic review of the coal Report for the South African National Biodiversity mining industry with regard to grassland Institute’s National Grasslands B i o d i v e r s i t y biodiversity and identification of Programme. opportunities for the development of interventions with the coal industry to address biodiversity. Rutherford MC and Westfall RH 1986. Biomes of Report for the South African National Biodiversity Southern Africa - an objective categorization. Institute’s National Grasslands Biodiversity Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa Programme. 54: 1-98.

Letšela T, Witkowski ETF and Balkwill K 2003. SANBI and DEAT 2008. South African National Plant resources used for subsistence in Protected Area Expansion Strategy (2008 - Tsehlanyane and Bokong in Lesotho. Economic 2012): A framework for implementation Botany 57(4): 619-639. (unpublished draft copy).

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Figure 1. The extent of the Grassland Biome (as defined by Mucina and Rutherford 2006) relative to the formal PA estate of southern Africa.

Figure 2. The four bioregions of the Grassland Biome in southern Africa (based on Mucina and Rutherford 2006).

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